In the past two weeks pharmacists have requested versions of my PDA apps for:
- Symbian OS
- Blackberry
- iPhone
Last week Palm announced WebOS, their new Linux-based operating system. WebOS represents a complete clean break, both architecturally and philosophically, from the legacy Palm OS we’re all acquainted with.
And Google’s Android smart phone represents yet another PDA platform.
The PDA market is fragmenting. Blackberry is popular in the US, while Symbian is the most widely used PDA OS the world over. Apple’s iPhone is a stunning product with it’s own proprietary operating system. Android has great potential. And now Palm, with their recently announced Pre’ (pronounced pre or pray???), has introduced yet another new OS.
Each one of these operating systems are as different as night and day, and developing an application for each of them would require a team multi-talented programmers.
RxKinetics is a one-man show. I am chief cook and bottle washer. I started writing pk programs in the early 1980′s, mainly because I couldn’t afford the $20,000 / year licensing fees for pk software (which is $42,500 in today’s dollars). Over the past 25 years I have been helped and encouraged by my fellow pharmacists, and in return have always charged minimal fees, generating just enough income to keep everything going.
So, faced with the monumental task of writing software specific to each divergent device, I am focusing on web-based software which can be used by any PC, PDA, or Smart phone with a web browser. Web based software presents new challenges, but I feel that is where I need to focus my limited time.
Please try out the beta and offer your suggestions:
http://rxkinetics.net